One of the primary collaborations under this new agreement will be roadmap development, beginning with the 2004 NEMI roadmap. The roadmaps, created every two years, map the future manufacturing needs of the electronics industry in order to identify the key technology and infrastructure developments required to assure leadership of the global supply chain over the next decade. It helps companies anticipate shifts in product requirements and provides an early warning of changes in technology or infrastructure.
(March 24, 2004) Oldenburg, Germany—Competitiveness in the chip design and fabrication sector depends on fast turn-arounds and ever shorter concept-to-product cycles. New hardware design tools based on object-oriented methods may help shorten the design cycle.